Footloose the Musical

What would happen if an angry young man, living in laid back Chicago, is uprooted and forced to live in a town, where teenagers are seen and not heard, and dancing is illegal?  This is the central theme of the musical ‘Footloose’ based on the 1984 film of the same name starring Kevin Bacon and featuring additional songs by Kenny Loggins, Jim Steinman and Eric Carmen. 

Ren (Jacob Bale) and his single mum Ethel (Katie Wilson) have moved from swinging Chicago, where Ren loves to dance and socialise with his friends, as shown in the effervescent opening number ‘Footlose.’  Ren is an angry young man, bitter and confused about his dad walking out on him and his mum, and furious that he is having to live in a ‘hick town’ like Bomont with his uncle and aunty.   Ren’s anger further bubbles to the surface, when he meets the moral compass of the town, the Reverend Shaw Moore (Martin Green), and he quickly rejects the Reverends approaches to join the congregation, pulling away with his arms folded distancing himself from the other churchgoers.  I particularly liked the huge cross illuminated with blue lights and the use of projections to represent the church coupled with the beautiful harmonies of the congregations.  

The church sermon is about the dangers of ‘easy sexuality’ and is obviously aimed directly at the teenagers and we see the conflict that Ren will come up against with the smug do-gooders of Bomont. I liked the way that the adults were effectively used in different scenes showing their opposition to the teenagers bathed in red light as they lurked at the back of the stage. 

The Reverend and his wife Vi (Charlene Wissett) have some troubles of their own. They have a rebellious daughter, Ariel (Chloe Dury) who has her own way of breaking the rules.  I liked the way she took off her simple dress and revealed a raunchy outfit of mini skirt and red and silver sparkly cowgirl boots, showing that she is one girl who wasn’t going to be told what to do or who to socialise with.  Even her choice of boyfriend is the perfect opportunity to get under her parent’s skin -the local bad boy, and arrogant Chuck (Billy Mallon.)  

Ariel has three close friends who she shares her troubles with, who also act as a ‘Greek Chorus’ device throughout and were also used effectively in scene changes.  The girls, Rusty (Megan Jackson), Urleen (Sophie Brown) and Wendy-Jo (Roz Brierley) also showed the suspicious nature of the adults of the town constantly spying on the teenagers and Ren, through the repeated ominous motif ‘Somebody’s Eyes.’   

At school, Ren meets Willard (Ben Bromley) a nervous mummy’s boy who quickly becomes Ren’s new friend and soon fills him in on life in Bomont.  Ren is horrified to discover that dancing is illegal within the city limits adding further to his simmering hatred of the town.  Rusty further explains the reasoning behind the decision, as she tells him about a tragic accident involving the deaths of four teenagers who were returning from a dance.  Ren is now gaining a reputation as a troublemaker and the tongue-wagging adults turn against him.  

In a beautiful duet, Vi and Ethel sing about the need for them not argue back and show their true feelings in ‘Learning to Be Silent’ by keeping their personal feelings firmly locked away – Vi in standing up to her husband over their daughter Ariel and Ethel from Ren’s bullying uncle.  Both women had fantastic voices and ended on a chilling zipped lip mime. 

The kid’s hangout is the local Burger Bar where we get more insight into their characters.  The girls perform a feisty dance number to ‘Holding out for Hero’ showing some excellent choreography, and Willard shows his lack of education spelling trouble as ‘trubel.’ I also liked Ren’s new elderly boss unsteady on her roller skates - a nice comic relief. 

Ariel tells Ren she wants to be free to leave the town and see the world and lets her feelings out through shouting at the trains.   We see a beginning of a relationship, but Ren knows Ariel has already gained a reputation in the town. 

In another lovely scene, the Reverend sings, while talking to God, about his relationship with Ariel and the need for rules, as he sees himself as the town’s saviour even though it is causing a rift with his daughter.  Martin as the Reverend had a wonderful powerful voice and acted the lyrics compellingly showing a deeper layer to the prejudiced clergyman. 

Ren himself has been brutally beaten by the jealous Chuck and his cronies Lyle Josh Hayes) and Travis (Allan Smith) and, in a turning point in the show, Ren engages the other teens to rebel against the grown-ups in organising a party.  In another fun scene Ren and the teenagers go to a bar outside Bomont and meet the feisty Cowboy Bob (an excellent performance from Charlotte Parker) and Willard divulges his dark secret – he can’t dance!  Rusty sings an excellent version of ‘Let’s Hear for the Boy’ showing off her powerhouse vocals and indicating that she loves Willard regardless. 

Will Ren get the church council to relent on their dancing ban and will the Reverend finally get to face up to the real reason he enforces such an iron will on his wife, daughter and fellow townspeople? 

Lots of good performances from all in this show, which despite the illegal dancing ban, had lots of dancing in it!  Jacob as Ren played the hero as an engaging character with charm and amiability and it was good to see his character change from angry young man to a true champion for change being able to stand up to the Reverend and the other adults.  His relationship with Willard was very endearing accepting him for what he was and his blossoming romance with Ariel was sweet.  He also had a powerful voice with a high falsetto.  Chloe as Ariel was feisty and sassy taunting her boyfriend Chuck and clashing with her father but still retaining a vulnerability to the character which she showed in her scenes with Ren.  Her singing voice and dancing were very good leading many of the dance numbers. 

Ben as Willard was a fun character and I liked the way he gained more confidence in his relationship with Rusty.  His song about his mother was also very funny.   Both the mothers, Ethel and Vi played by Katie Wilson and Charlene Wissett, created wonderful, well-rounded believable characters.  I liked the way Ethel stood by her son giving him encouragement to be true to himself and Vi in her steadfast support of her husband recognising that he had been blinded by his grief. 

The trio of girls were good singers and dancers and individual in their own ways.  Wendy-Jo (Roz Brierley) was quirky and had a good stage presence always acting, Urleen (Sophie Brown) worked well with the other girls harmonising and dancing forming the Greek Chorus.  Special mention to Megan Jackson as Rusty who had a sweet personality with her adorable relationship with Willard and I was blown away by her voice which was simply stunning and again she was always acting whenever on stage. 

Martin Green as the Reverend was wonderful as the conflicted clergyman carrying a heavy burden of grief and guilt. He was never a bully or unkind to Ariel or his wife and he wore his grief like armour protecting himself from harmful outside influences.  Martin had a powerful voice and proved he is a musical actor especially in his direct to audience solos.  His growing relationship with Ren was also very well done. 

Lighting was used well with red and blue spotlights highlighting different characters or groups of characters.  The set was simple (Joe Roberts as Technical Director) with items representing each scene, such as a table with tablecloth for the Moore’s home, which were effectively cleared by the ‘Greek Chorus’ while staying perfectly in character. I loved the hoe down transformation with a row of fairy lights and bunting being lowered down from above.  Costumes were in keeping with the 80s theme and had lots of cowboy references to reflect the hick town of Bomont.  I like the contrast with the hippy new age mum Ethel in her dungarees and Vi’s traditional simple dress. Special mention to Ariel’s snazzy sparkly red boots - they really caught the lights!

Well done to Choreographer Lyd Rushton, for creating some fun and themed dance numbers incorporating some line dancing to reflect the cowboy theme.  Also to Musical Director Katie Bale for those amazing harmonies especially in the church scene.  It was lovely to see the live band who were behind the stage come out to perform. 

I understand from the programme that there have been some unavoidable changes in the role of director with Sarah Varman putting in the foundations and cast member Julia Glover-Kirkland taking over from her.  This has not affected the production in any negative way, and you are to be congratulated for keeping the joyous theme of the show and the obvious enthusiasm of the talented cast firmly to the forefront.  Your efforts and dedication were certainly appreciated by the ample enthusiastic audience on your final night. 

I was disappointed not to have personally met any of the cast or production team, either before or after the show, as despite not being your regional representative, I do like to chat to the performers about their experiences.  I wish you all the best with your next venture. 

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